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Boycott of Newport holiday boat parade urged over rent hikes

November 28, 2012 | 1:23
pm

A group opposed to the city
of Newport Beach's ongoing effort to increase fees for the use of public
tidelands is urging harbor denizens to boycott the city's annual
Christmas Boat Parade in protest of a new round of proposed rent hikes
for residential docks.

The council will consider voting on the proposed changes, which would
raise residential dock rents from a flat $100 per year to 52.5 cents
per square foot per year, at 6 p.m. Wednesday in City Hall, 3300 Newport
Blvd.

In a news release Tuesday, backers of the group Stop the Dock Tax
asked property owners who normally participate in the parade to keep
their vessels and homes dark during this year's parade, an event that
has lighted up the harbor each holiday season for more than a century.

The parade, which is put on by the Newport Beach Chamber of Commerce, is scheduled for the evenings of Dec. 19 through 23.

"It costs us thousands of dollars to voluntarily decorate our homes
and boats to bring holiday smiles to nearly 1 million people,"
organization Chairman Bob McCaffrey wrote in the release. "This year, we
are turning off our lights and withdrawing our boats in protest of the
massive new dock tax we expect the City Council to levy" at a Wednesday
special meeting.

City officials have emphasized that the fee hikes are rents for the use of public resources — not taxes.

Chamber President and Chief Executive Richard Luehrs said widespread
participation in the boycott could be devastating for the parade, which
he said "has a multimillion-dollar economic impact."

Harborside homes that go all out for the Ring of Lights decoration
contest, along with individual boat owners, make up the majority of
parade participants and are the biggest draws for visitors, he said.

"That would be tragic. I'm sorry to hear it," Luehrs said upon being
told of the boycott. "A lot of local businesses depend on visitors
coming to our community to participate in our parade and if a lot of
boat owners and homeowners participated in such an activity [as a
boycott], that would be unfortunate."

He said chamber representatives have participated in negotiations
over the harbor rent increases and have followed the issue carefully.

While the chamber recognizes "the city's interest in raising revenue, we think it might've gone a little too far too fast."

Councilman Mike Henn, who has been involved in the rent increase
negotiations on behalf of the city, said he had caught wind of the
boycott and that it is, of course, well within residents' rights to take
part.

"They're entitled to do whatever they wish," he said. "I don't think
that's a substantive way to address the issues that need to be
addressed."

Pete Pallette, a harbor homeowner who spoke on behalf of Stop the
Dock Tax, said the group sees the boycott as one of the only ways left
to get the council's attention.

"I think [the boycott] is a fairly recent subject and it's based on
the fact that the city seems to resist our best efforts to talk to us
about realistic increases," he said. "I don't think anyone's against
adjustments, but these things are so punitive and egregious that we have
to speak up."

And the boycott, he said, "seems to be potentially an effective negotiating tool."

Pallette said if the city is willing "to postpone this action," and
meet again with stakeholders, the group would be open to withdrawing the
boycott.

Henn said he couldn't say whether the possibility of a boycott will affect the council's decision Wednesday.